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Redesigning TANF to lift more families out of poverty
The 1996 welfare law that created Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has many shortcomings, as we’ve detailed in a blog series over the past week. Primarily, TANF fails to adequately support families with children who are poor through cash assistance and meaningful work activities—despite the law’s two core missions of providing a basic safety […]
Twenty years later, TANF does little to relieve poverty and hardship
This blog is the second post in a series that will detail how lawmakers have weakened Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) over the past 20 years, explain why TANF is a cautionary tale rather than a model for other work and income support programs, and map out a better way forward. TANF does little […]
TANF at 20: How it contributed to a tattered safety net for struggling families
This blog is the first post in a series that will detail how lawmakers have weakened Temporary Assistance for Need Families (TANF) over the last 20 years, explain why TANF is a cautionary tale rather than a model for other work and income support programs, and map out a better way forward. Come Monday, Aug. […]
Prosperity Watch: SNAP (food stamps) caseloads declining quickly
The latest issue of Prosperity Watch takes a look at the trend in SNAP caseloads between January and April of this year. We selected this period because it covers the time in which 23 of the state’s 100 counties began cutting people off SNAP after re-imposing the three-month time limit in January. We found that […]
Budget falls short of being a visionary plan for North Carolina’s economic future, finds a new report from the NC Budget & Tax Center
North Carolina lawmakers approved their state budget this month, a budget constrained by limited aspirations. The pursuit of a rigid spending formula combined with another round of tax breaks prevented lawmakers from proposing an adequate budget, let alone a bold one, as we explain in our new Budget & Tax Center report. The new tax […]
North Carolina’s incredible shrinking state budget
Short-changing public investments is no way to grow a state
[Editor’s note: North Carolina’s conservative elected leaders have changed their tune in recent months. After railing for years about “runaway spending” and having slashed state budget appropriations in virtually every area of government service, this year – an important election year – officials have suddenly started bragging about teacher pay raises and other efforts to boost essential services like mental health programs.
House lawmakers approve stricter penalties for SNAP recipients
A new rule also requires DHHS to investigate modest lottery winnings Last week, House lawmakers undercut SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program and plays a critical role in ensuring that North Carolinians have enough to eat. They made it more difficult for those who receive SNAP to […]
Read fine print: How the state Senate spends federal the dollars in its budget
When state lawmakers put together a budget proposal, they decide how to spend state dollars on the public investments that help children, families, and communities thrive. These are things like public education, public health and safety, and transportation services and programs. Lawmakers also allocate federal aid that is passed to the state in the form […]
Read the fine print—Key policy choices in the Senate budget
The state budget includes more than just spending decisions on crucial public investments such as education, public health, safety, and transportation. It also includes policy decisions—known as special provisions—that in many cases “follow the money” to clarify how state agencies should use state funds and federal aid. In other cases, the budget includes policy decisions […]
More ill-conceived tax cuts and MIA investments: Why the House budget proposal comes up short
The $22.225 billion budget proposal that the state House of Representatives released for the upcoming 2017 fiscal year reflects the limited aspirations for North Carolina that the House and Senate leadership have agreed on. Legislative leadership used a flawed formula to set a low budget target — even lower than the Governor’s $22.33 billion proposal — that has no basis in economic realities or community needs and leaves $127.4 million on the table unspent.
Missed Opportunities: Investments that are MIA in the preliminary House budget
Deep tax cuts, the pursuit of additional costly tax cuts, and an arbitrary spending limit are preventing House leadership from proposing a bold, visionary state budget for the upcoming 2017 fiscal year, as I explained yesterday. Once accounting for these three limitations, there are few public dollars available for anything else after the House budget […]
Follow the money: The House’s budget doubles down on tax cuts and leaves nearly $127.4 million on the table
The $22.225 billion budget proposal that the state House of Representatives released for the upcoming 2017 fiscal year reflects the limited aspirations for North Carolina that the House and Senate leadership have agreed on. Legislative leadership used a flawed formula to set a low budget target — even lower than the Governor’s $22.33 billion proposal […]